Karnataka hikes power tariffs by 8%

Bengaluru, April 11 -- The Karnataka Electricity Regulatory Commission (KERC) on Tuesday approved an 8% hike in tariff in 2017-18 for all categories of consumers in order to bridge a revenue gap for the previous fiscal, mitigate power purchase costs and an increase thermal power fuel costs.
KERC cleared an 8% hike against a demand of 25% by electricity supply companies. Justifying the tariff hike, it said it was needed to cover the revenue gap of Rs2,616 crore.
Karnataka has been forced to procure costlier short-term power due to reduced availability of cheaper hydel power owing to poor monsoon, the commission said.
The new tariffs will come into effect retrospectively from 1 April.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from MINT.